Duke knocked off Butler in last year's Final Four finale in Indianapolis, 61-59, and the Blue Devils' Lance Thomas (42) celebrated with his teammates. The question now is: Will we get another nail-biter on Monday night in Houston? (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)

Syracuse, N.Y. -- As this is Final Four Week, it makes for a good time to provide (as a public service, of course) a few appropriate tidbits that you can share as you and yours watch Butler, Virginia Commonwealth, Kentucky and Connecticut do their things in Texas.

And so, some Final Four fodder (culled, for the record, in large part from a story I wrote five years ago):

-- Lew Alcindor, the UCLA center, was the greatest Final Four player there has ever been or ever will be. He played in three of them (1967, ’68 and ’69), went 6-0 (winning those six games by an average score of 85-67), won three Most Outstanding Player awards and averaged 25.7 rebounds and 18.8 rebounds. The No. 2 guy? Not. Even. Close.

-- Back in 1939, the Oregon Ducks showed up at the first NCAA title game in Evanston, Ill., billed as “The Tall Firs” because of their immense front line of 6-foot-8 center Slim Wintermute and their pair of 6-4 forwards, Lauren Gale and John Dick. Thirty-one years later, the Jacksonville Dolphins showed up in the 1970 Final Four with 7-2 Artis Gilmore and 7-foot Pembroke Burrows III in their starting lineup. And nine years after that, Michigan State brought a 6-9 point guard named Earvin Johnson to the 1979 Final Four. Evolution, folks. Evolution.

-- Butler’s near win last year in the championship affair in Indianapolis was the 19th title game in NCAA Tournament history to be decided by three points or less or in overtime. During one remarkable stretch between 1982-’89, the scores were 63-62, 54-52, 84-75, 66-64, 72-69, 74-73, 83-79 and 80-79.

-- How good was the Georgetown club, beaten by Villanova (66-64) in the 1985 Final Four, that showed up in Lexington? This good: To survive the Hoyas, the Wildcats merely had to convert 22 of 28 field-goal tries, attempt 19 more free throws, shoot 90% from the field in the second half, commit 10 fewer fouls and limit the Hoyas to 17 rebounds. Villanova did all of that . . . and won by two. That magical night did produce a basketball fairy tale, sure. But in the end, what was needed to topple Georgetown said as much about the Hoyas as it did about the Wildcats.

-- Once upon a time, the Final Four included a consolation game for what amounted to the Tournament’s bronze medal. And we should all be grateful. Otherwise, we’d never have borne witness to that spectacular effort produced by Princeton’s Bill Bradley in 1965 out there in Portland, Ore. The future U.S. senator poured in 58 points (on 22-of-29 shooting from the field . . . and without benefit of that artificial three-point arc) and grabbed 17 rebounds. And, sure, the Tigers beat Wichita State 118-82 to proudly claim third place.

-- Speaking of numbers, San Francisco’s Bill Russell pulled down 27 rebounds in the 1956 Final Four championship game in 1956. And Oscar Robertson cobbled together a 39-17-10 triple-double in the 1959 consolation game. Oh, and in semifinals of the 1983 Final Four, Houston’s “Phi Slamma Jamma” and Louisville’s “Doctors of Dunk” combined for 20 slams during the Cougars’ 94-81 victory in Albuquerque. “When you were under the basket as a referee, you thought you were in London for the Blitzkrieg,” said Hank Nichols, who was one of that game’s officials. “We were running to get out of the way.”

-- These are just some of the members of the NBA’s All-Time Top 50 Players as determined by the league a few years ago who never did make it to a Final Four: Shaquille O’Neal, Pete Maravich, Julius Erving, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, David Robinson, Dave Bing, Rick Barry, John Stockton, Walt Frazier, and Kevin McHale. By the way, Dolph Schayes who went on to play for those old Syracuse Nationals, was one of those Top 50 guys who DID play in a Final Four setting. That would have been in Madison Square Garden in 1945. For the New York University Violets. As a 6-7 starting center. Against Oklahoma A&M and its 7-foot center, Bob “Foothills” Kurland, widely considered the best player in the nation. And all at the age of 16. Yes, 16.

(Bud Poliquin's on-line commentaries, columns and "To The Point" observations appear virtually every day on syracuse.com. His work can also be regularly found on the pages of The Post-Standard newspaper. Additionally, he can be heard Mondays through Fridays (10 a.m.-12 noon), on the "Bud & the Manchild" sports-talk radio show on The Score 1260-AM. E-mail: bpoliquin@syracuse.com.)